Hamm was the leading tackler (and their heartbeat in my opinion) and Humpries the teams leading rusher. Both will be hard to replace along with the starters across the line. The incoming SR class has numbers (nearly half the returning team) and talent. If they can replace those guys they could make a run at the district title.

No. ASB says Parks from Breathitt is now at Hazard. I had also heard rumor that the QB at Boyd has moved as well.

That was one of them. QB at Boyd now at Raceland is the other.

The younger Engineers will have to step up big to fill those shoes. The schedule starting out is solid. The good news is the district is not murderer's row so the early competition should benefit them. The running attacks of Paintsville, WH, and Bath Co will prepare them defensively for the district. Boyd Co and Breathitt Co are much more winnable games now than I 1st thought if some of the transfer rumors are true. Morgan, Magoffin, and Knott...

Nicholas loses everyone. Complete rebuild. Last's years roster had 13 seniors out of just over 30 total and they played most of the minutes.

I agree with Purple Pride. Overrated and could lead to more injuries than anything. Remember Burns from Fleming Co injuring his knee in summer ball and costing him most of his senior season. I have seen coaches in smaller schools try to use it as a recruiting tool vs football. "Come and work hard for me this summer and fall and your going to be a starter"....until the regular starter comes in after football season and starts game 1. Seen many...

Which way?

I would hope they keep regions 1 and 2 together and 3 and 4 together. The current cross bracketing in 5A and 6A has district 3, 4, 5, and 6 crossing east-west regions. Could have Belfry and Boyle Co districts playing one region and Russell and Louisville Central districts playing the other.....insert Corbin cheers here. Common sense would have yearly rotation between 1/2/3/4 in west and 5/6/7/8 in the east. Hope that plays out but who knows.

No secret. Clay County will be better this season under Sizemore regardless of what starters return. Good coach that will rebuild the program if they let him.

The Vikings program has been in turmoil for the past few years caused mainly by parents and administration. Unfortunately the players are the ones who have suffered. Rowan Co had 2 class act coaches in Ray Graham and Gene Peterson the past 3 seasons. They dismissed one and never gave the other a real chance to succeed under the circumstances. Coach Kelly Ford will bring a familiar face to the team as he has been involved for many years with...

Russell is still the king of the district. If not for the night of the monsoon 2 years ago they would be back to back district champs since realignment. To be the man you got to beat the man. With that said they have some BIG holes to fill, more than anyone else in the district. Smith and Stump will have good seasons but they will need new blood to step up. It's still their world but the door could be open for someone in the right situation.

Don't recall making comparisons to anyone. I said give me the guys who can get their teams to compete to win vs their schedule every year. I mentioned 3 I am familiar with but there 2 dozen more around the state that others could and would say the same about I am sure of. If this thread is best coaches by wins, titles, etc then that's another subject all together and would be a very small group.

The best coaches are the ones who consistently fields teams that play hard and compete to win vs anyone on their schedule each year regardless of talent level. They may or may not have a ring but they have the die hard loyalty of the young men who played for him. Give me those guys. Chief Smoke Buchanan. Johnny Poynter. Ray Graham. Those are a few names that come to mind.

Wonder if the roster gets suddenly gets bigger if one of these 3 in particular gets the job............

I hear one of the assistants (possibly the interm named) is very popular with the team. Could already be done.

1st game may be a run rule but 2, 3, and 4 will be good games.

KHSAA said there wasn't sufficient interest in doing so among the schools in Class A.

I am going to say that adjustments are being made due to Class A dropping to only 29 teams. KHSAA anticipated the South Floyd consolidation. I don't think they counted on Jenkins and Eminance dropping out of their districts.